


Nobody Asked

by The_Mad_Hatter



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Spoilers for Chapter 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 07:39:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mad_Hatter/pseuds/The_Mad_Hatter
Summary: Arthur is getting sicker and the gang don't seem to care much apart from keeping themselves from being infected too.





	Nobody Asked

Nobody had ever asked what was wrong with him and if he was going to be truthful, really truthful with himself from the bottom of his heart, that realisation hurt a lot. All these years of taking care of everyone else, being a fellow gang member, a protector, a friend, a brother and none of them had outright asked what it was he was dealing with or if there was anything they could do to help. Trying to push his emotions far back in he was smart enough to know they didn't need to be told what was wrong. This disease was well known, everyone always knew someone who had been taken by it whether it was family or a friend of a friend. Tuberculosis was a familiar enough threat and they all knew the signs from the first moment they had seen him hacking up bloodied spit. 

Still when they began to show discomfort in his presence it hurt more than he would ever let anyone know. One afternoon he walked past just at the wrong moment and overheard Miss Grimshaw advising young Jack to stay away from him, the little boy was confused but agreed all the same. She was right of course. The last person Arthur wanted to risk infecting would be the small child, it was nothing but a sensible thing to do, very much the sort of thing she'd think of but something in him ached at the thought of never being able to hug Jack again, to sit the boy in his saddle with him as they went off fishing together. 

Tilly quietly approached him another day, asking how he was feeling which he avoided the question with a shrug and a tired smile then instead asked her how her day was going. During the conversation she dropped the real reason she had come to him, he was going to have to wash his own laundry from now on. His fingers dipped into his trouser pocket and idly touched the bloodied handkerchief stored within. Made sense, he figured, he wouldn't have Tilly or the other girls touching his blood and spittle covered items.

“Hey Blacklung.” Micah sneered one morning, walking past Arthur's tent as he prowled through the camp on his way to Dutch. “You just gonna spend the day laying around cause you're sick? What a waste of the time you have left when you should be working.” With a flash of red hot anger Arthur was up, one fist locked in Micah's shirt and their faces close together, ready to snarl out some retaliation or beat the living shit out of the man, maybe both. “Hey whoa, whoa! You keep that rancid breath to yourself! I don't want what you got.” The rat of a man growled, fighting himself free and backing up a few steps. 

There was however some kindness to be found for him in this group of apparent heathens and cold blooded killers. On returning to his tent after going out for a job he found a bottle of medicine and when he looked up he saw Mary-Beth meet his eyes from where she sat with a gentle smile and nod of her head. Charles had pushed a small leather pouch into his hands with instructions to drink it with hot water, when he examined its contents he found it was a mix of freshly picked and prepared herbs. 

He waited last until everyone else had gotten their share of tonight's stew before going in for himself, another little rule he had to agree with. Knowing none of them wanted to eat food that he had possibly touched, or even use the ladle after him. The meal was good and hot but irritated his throat and chest on the way down, making him hack and splutter around mouthfuls. He only managed half his meal before giving up, it leaving a painful nauseous feeling in his stomach. 

He made his way over to sit at the fire to warm himself up, trying his best to ignore everyone's uneasy glances or the way Javier just up and left with something muttered in Spanish beneath his breath, the bastard had been outright refusing to talk to him nowadays. Rather quickly everyone else abandoned their seats, each making some excuse until Arthur was alone. He straightened his back and sat up tall, he wasn't about to let it bother him, he wasn't. 

He tried not to blame them, at least the ones he still considered friends, he wouldn't want to catch this disease either if he were still healthy. Those few measly dollars he had beaten out of that sick man and his family was not worth this. 

Later that night he suffered with a fever, chills that had him shivering beneath his blanket and sweat dripping down his face. He hacked wetly, knowing there must be blood around his dry cracked lips but not having the energy to care. There was laughter from over by the fire and his bloodshot eyes lifted as he rolled a little onto his side to look. Bill, Javier and Micah were sitting together and beyond them he could just make out Dutch standing out by his tent having his evening cigar while everyone else appeared to be asleep. His lungs seemed to seize, sending him into a fit of painful coughs that left him gasping for air, his chest feeling like it would tear itself apart and he would surely die. None of them even turned to look at him, Dutch going inside his tent for the night and the boy's laughter carrying on. 

What a bunch of bastard snakes, the god-damn lot of them deserved to rot.

**Author's Note:**

> Uh I'm stuck in bed sick myself and very sad about what I'm seeing in chapter 6, so I had to write a little thing. I've really noticed nobody wants to sit with Arthur though?? And I'm having precisely too many feelings about that, of course it could just be down to the rift between Team Sanity and Team i HaVe A pLaN but still, it hurts. 
> 
> If you enjoyed at all please consider leaving kudos and comments.


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